Blood Traits
by LassieLowrider
Summary: Some families, some bloodlines, carry specific traits... The Black Insanity, the Potter Honour and the Malfoy Faith, just to name a few. Was earlier "Insanity of the Blacks".
1. The Black Insanity

**Warnings: **None, really. They're insane, but that's that.

**Summary: **The Black's are an insane bunch, and perhaps Harry is the worst.

**Disclaimer: **Right. Don't own, and if you think I do, you probably shouldn't be reading fanfiction.

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That the scions of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black is insane is an universally acknowledged truth. That's just the way it is. What no one, however, can agree upon, is why they're insane. Some, mostly muggleborns or people with knowledge of the muggle world and the successful genetic research the muggles are performing claim it's inbreeding that's the cause. Some say it's the dark magic they use, some say that the whole line is cursed.

No matter the cause, they are insane. Some only mildly, some more so, and some violently insane. When new, untainted (or, in most cases, tainted) blood is introduced to the line, the insanity recedes slightly, making the offspring sociopathic instead of psychopathic. It shows itself differently in every person, but it shows itself in every one that, in some way, is a scion of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black.

Dorea Potter nee Black. Second cousin of Orion and Pollux Black, all three descending from Phineas Nigellus Black. Also insane. The marriage bond to Charlus Potter infused the Black blood with the Potter honour and magic, stabilizing the damage the years spent in close quarters with Tom Riddle and Abraxas Malfoy caused. The long years of trying without success for an heir sadly deteriorated her health, but she held it together, until the last fight of her life, in which she severely, along with her husband, decimated Voldemort's base of support.

Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black is one of the violently insane ones. At first, she was only mildly insane, but as she was sucked deeper and deeper into the dark magic and Voldemort's circles, she got more insane. The stay in Azkaban broke her completely, snapped that infinitesimal thread of sanity she had left.

Sirius Black. Heir of the House. Last male heir directly connected to the patriarchal line when his brother died. Insane. Sorted into Gryffindor, informally disowned, and out of his fucking mind. The sorting into Gryffindor and his friendship with James Potter, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew saved him from the fate that otherwise would have awaited him: complete insanity, worse than that of his cousin, Bellatrix.

Narcissa Malfoy nee Black. Generally sane, unless son is threatened. She was in a downwards spiral equalling that of her older sister, when she got pregnant with the Malfoy heir: Draco. The Malfoy faith also went a long way to keeping her stable.

Andromeda Tonks nee Black: Got out from underneath her racist family's thumb and married a muggleborn. Insane in a moderate way, managing like only a Black would to turn creature and blood politics on its head.

Harrison J. Black-Potter. Heir to the Black line through his father, Sirius Black, heir to the Potter line through his father, James Potter. Of course, if you asked anyone, he wasn't _really _a Black, since he'd only been blood-adopted when he was a year old. The small amount of very magically charged blood that he received from his godfather, however, woke whatever remnants of Dorea's heritage that he still had.

Harrison Black. Harry Potter. The Boy-Who-Lived. The Black insanity infused with muggleborn logic and Potter honour. It could not go any way than the way it did. A genius with sociopathic tendencies, with enough magic to leave Dumbledore in the dust and the logic to use it when necessary. Ambition, cunning, loyalty, intellect, courage and power – and the drive to do what ever it takes.

He told his friends, his confidantes and his most loyal followers, that one day he'd rule the Wizarding World, and one day, the Wizarding World would be a place to be so very, very proud of, not the segregated and prejudiced place it is now. Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom believed him – with the look in his eyes and his magic swirling in a visible aura around him, they were ready to help him storm Hell and help him take over.

Maybe he was a Dark Lord. Maybe he wasn't. However, after killing Voldemort and freeing the Wizarding World of his oppression, the sun shone out of his arse, according to the Wizarding population.

With the wand in hand, the stone on a chain around his neck and the cloak settled on his shoulders, he was most definitely powerful, important and intimidating.

Harrison J. Black-Potter went on to become the most respected and well-liked Minister of Magic ever, and also the only one to sit in office until his death, a time spanning a total of 122 years.

…

**This was edited and rewritten as of July 2, 2012. Some things have been removed, some added. Kudos goes to **_Sabaku no Sable_**for reminding me about Dorea Black. Thank you!**


	2. The Potter Honour

**Warnings:** Well, some clichés, I expect. Doesn't go with the Insanity, really, but still Potter Honour.

**Summary: **In the veins of the Honourable and Most Ancient House of Potter runs not blood but liquid honour.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. Absolutely nothing.

…

The Honourable and Most Ancient House of Potter have always been prominent, neutral pillars of society. With their unique brand of looking at things they also have large successes in politics, strange as it sounds. More Potters than any other line have been Ministers of Magic, Supreme Mugwumps and Chief Warlocks. If a Potter was in charge, everything happened as it should and everyone came out happy, including the losing side.

The honour of the Potters are the same as the Black insanity and the Malfoy Faith; undeniable, unstoppable and it have absolutely no explanation. It's who they are.

Godric Gryffindor is widely recognized as the one who started the specific Potter brand of Honour, which was then passed down through time. However, many claims that Potters have always been honourable, but there have been no confirmation or denial from the family yet. As the family have no confirmed roots anywhere, none can be sure of when the family was founded.

One thing is for certain, however; no illegitimate child, confirmed or not, have ever been brought forward. The reason is simple: a Potter beds none but their bonded. Their family magic allows nothing else.

Godric Potter, named after his famous grandfather, went alone out to meet ten scores of goblins, in a revolution he believed himself to have begun. He was wrong, as many tried to tell him, but his honour allowed nothing else. He convinced the goblins to enter peace talks, release the masses' vaults and let the market flourish again.

Charlus Potter, grandfather of the current Potter, Harry, was captured by Grindlewald's forces and tortured to within an inch of his life for information, and yet he, gravely wounded and severely exhausted, managed to free all the prisoners of Nurmengard – Albus Dumbledore being one of them, and Charlus was later widely accredited with basically allowing them to win the war.

James Potter. Man enough to stand up to his best friend, risk the exposure of another and risk his life, all to save a young man his group of friends had bullied since they were 11 years old. That takes guts and, most of all, it takes honour.

Harry Potter. The wild card in this deck, the variable in this equation. Was he going to be honourable? What with being the only Potter raised without parents since the 12th century, the only one raised without any Potter connection what-so-ever in recorded history...

He was. Honour made him fight Voldemort before he knew his destiny and honour made him enter a chamber unexplored for the last who knows how many years, going up against an unknown foe to save the little sister of his best friend. His honour made him stop his father's friends from killing a traitor, honour made him a Tri-Wizard Winner, the prestige shared in-between houses and honour made him break into the ministry to save a man he barely knew. Honour stopped him from casting an Unforgivable, honour made him fight for what is right and not what is easy and honour let him persevere when times got tough.

Honour let him win. Honour made sure he gave his rival a chance, honour meant he passed over bliss when none would have stopped him from attaining it and instead went back and finished what he started.

However, I'll let it be unsaid whether the gypsy curse from the 13th century aids or hinders the honour. Charm, charisma, untameable hair and the best and the worst of luck.

…

**As I said, not really tied into Insanity but still connected. More tied into the Malfoy Faith which is coming.**


	3. The Malfoy Faith

**Well, here it is, finally. Sorry for the extremely long wait! **

**I don't own this, just so you know!**

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Long ago, family names were not all that common – instead, a family was given name by their chosen craft; as such we have Smiths, Potters, and similar, craft-based names. Were it not the crafts, then it was their parentage – the son of so-and-so, who in turn was the son of so-and-so.

Some, however, received names based on their most prominent trait, particularly wizards. One such example is the LeStrange family, another is the Malfoy family.

The LeStrange family's history is a story for another day.

The Malfoys originated in France. Their name have undergone a change during the years passed, but it is still recognisable – it began as de Mal Foi, 'of Bad Faith'. Their name was simplified and anglicised when the family switched sides of the channel, but there are rumours of a branch in France still going by de Mal Foi.

Of course, the name is not to imply that the Malfoys don't believe in anything, that they have bad faith in such a way that they simply don't believe; no, in fact, the Malfoys believe a bit too much.

They have an unshakeable faith in their own family, history and blood, and when a worthy cause comes along, a cause they can have faith in, they believe in it wholeheartedly. Therein lies the problem.

Let's put this candidly: if a Malfoy believes in your cause, quit. Stop whatever it is you're doing, and go on a life-long holiday to a nice little bungalow in Thailand. In the end, it'll be better for you. Otherwise, you'll fail spectacularly over and over, leading to some snot-nosed brat finishing you off just as you think you've won (and already killed said snot-nosed brat).

Simply put, if a Malfoy joins a cause, they'll just bring it down from the inside, and that's why they are 'those of Bad Faith'. They don't want to curse their cause, but they do, because of the simple fact that their faith is, in and of itself, like a disease, a curse just waiting for the opportune moment, spreading to infect everything it possibly can, and like a force of nature it causes everything to collapse.

Draco and Lucius Malfoy supported Voldemort – slowly but surely, his reign toppled, getting more and more infected every time he entrusted a Malfoy with anything.

Grindlewald enlisted Abraxas Malfoy, and see where that got him? Powerless and imprisoned in his own prison, how poetic. Abraxas Malfoy was supposed to lock the cell after the customary torture that night, and he did, but forgot to raise the wards. He was distracted, he had been praised, entrusted with a highly important mission and was allowed to carry a set of keys to the entire prison of Nurmengard. Moreover, he happened to drop that set of keys, after forgetting to raise the wards, which might have possibly lead to Charlus Potter escaping and releasing the other prisoners and ultimately to Grindlewald losing the war, but no hard feelings.

In fact, a man called Lucien de Malfoi supported Salazar Slytherin in his quest to rid the world of muggleborns. That de Malfoi somehow always managed to speak about his plans in front of the pro-muggleborn side, well... It can't be helped, I guess. Slytherin failed rather miserably, actually. The total failure never could be truly accredited to anyone, but, well... As soon as someone said that de Malfoi supported him, the listeners went "Ahhhh.".

It's rumoured to be a curse, put upon the de Mal Foi family in times long gone, a curse uttered by a vengeful gypsy: bringing the de Mal Foi family beauty, riches and strong faith but making it so that their faith, their belief, would bring about the cause's downfall. It is rumoured to be based upon the Curse of Cassandra, but whereas Cassandra was thought a liar, the Malfoys simply... ruin everything they want to help with.

It's insidious, if so is the case, and perhaps a little failed, also. The Malfoys bring bad luck upon their leader, yes, but they are faithful to a fault, almost, never betraying their cause nor their family. Perhaps there is the biggest flaw in the curse theory; if it brings about bad luck to the cause of their belief, then how can their family live on, the ones that they never betray, never leave, always love?

It doesn't even seem to stop if the Malfoy in question defect – it seems magic punishes their first side only. Of course, it's very rarely a Malfoy defect, but it have happened, and the few times it did, it was because the cause hurt their family, the one thing they cannot allow.

The Malfoys are those of bad faith, but better be of bad faith than no faith at all.

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**Tell me what you think!**


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